Indian Bankers Declare Country-Wide Strike on Friday After Failure of Salary Hike Talks

New Delhi (Sputnik): Bank employees in India have been protesting time and again against government policies: in December, they staged demonstrations against the privatisation and merger of state-owned banks.

After two days of negotiations held between the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and bank unions over salary hike issues, about one million bankers on Thursday announced they would go on a nation-wide strike on 31 January and 1 February.

A wage settlement for over 100,000 bank employees and officers has been stuck for two years due to serious differences between management and unions.

The agreement giving a 12.25% wage hike was to come into force from November 2017 but unions are demanding at least a 15 per cent increase.

The bank unions in a statement also said: "On March 11, 12 and 13, there will be a three-day strike, and from April 1, there will be an indefinite strike."

Fearing job cuts, the bank employees have also been protesting against the Government’s plan to consolidate the banking sector in the country by merging 10 state-run banks into four.